Evil Eye and Curanderismo in the Mexican-American Culture

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Recommended: Traditional medicine

Curanderismo or traditional folk healing in Mexican culture is a very ancient belief system. Curanderismo comes from the word curar which literally means to heal. The founding fathers (predecessors) are considered Don Pedrito Jaramillo, Teresita, and Niño Fidencio. These people were not all from the same time period (era) the common belief shared was to rid the patient as he or she is called of an illness whose roots come from evil or evil doing done (performed) by someone else. This system of belief is not to be confused with brujeria or witchcraft as that is an entirely other belief system with its own credos. Here each healer or cuandero uses individual methods to heal though with one common thread religion. Curanderismo is not limited to just south of the border for it has transcended into Mexican-American culture. Cuaranderismo continues to live on through the genre of Mexican-American literature.

The predecessors were all healers who chose different methodologies to face evil. The individuals are considered to have been given a special gift from the Supreme Being in this case God, this special gift is referred to as a don. Two founding (basics) steps are and have been the use of religion and herbs. All of these healers understood the medicinal properties of plants from the roots of it till the edge of the leaves. The other common thread through all of them was praying to God as he is/was considered the one who ultimately would heal, as healers are simply interventor (mediums) and the earthly elements the aides to assist the healing. The start of the process to heal is similar to a traditional doctor. The patient will go in and speak of their symptoms based on that the healer begins to cure. Don Pedrito woul...

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...Jose%u0301 B. Gonzalez. "Curandera." Latino Boom: an Anthology of

U.S. Latino Literature. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2006. 103-04. Print.

Cisneros, Sandra. The House on Mango Street. New York: A.A. Knopf, 1994. Print.

Montaño, Mary Caroline. Tradiciones Nuevomexicanas: Hispano Arts and Culture of New

Mexico. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico, 2001. Print.

Portilla, Elizabeth De La. They All Want Magic: Curanderas and Folk Healing. College

Station, TX: Texas A & M UP, 2009. Print.

Scarr. "UNM Today: Curanderos and Shamans in the Southwest." The University of New

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Velásquez, Roberto, Leticia M. Arellano, and Brian McNeill. The Handbook of Chicana/o

Psychology and Mental Health. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2004. Print.

Walsh, Froma. Spiritual Resources in Family Therapy. New York: Guilford, 2009. Print.

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